Cobalt Market Update
The main driver in the cobalt market is the EV industry, as the metal is essential in batteries. But the coronavirus has hit the space hard, with many changing forecasts since the start of the year.
Wood Mackenzie was previously expecting EV sales growth of 20 percent year-on-year in 2020, but the firm is now looking at a contraction of up to 40 percent, Gavin Montgomery, research director, battery raw materials, told the Investing News Network (INN).
“We had projected the cobalt market to be relatively balanced this year as the excess stocks that characterized 2019 started to ease off, plus we have Glencore’s (LSE:GLEN) Mutanda mine offline this year. Now we see the market contending oversupply again as all end-use sectors are impacted.”